Assistant Principal
Megan Franklyn
Assistant Principal
Sharon Lomas
Assistant Principal
R U OK? Day – Thursday 8th September
The message for this year’s R U OK? Day is ask "R U OK?". No qualifications needed, because a conversation could change a life. The suggested conversation guide follows this path:
1. Ask R U OK?
2. Listen with an open mind
3. Encourage action
4. Check in.
Resources and services which may be of help: Lifeline (24/7)13 11 14 lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back Service (24/7) 1300 659 467 suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Beyond Blue (24/7) 1300 224 636 beyondblue.org.au
Kids Helpline (24/7, for youth 5-25) 1800 55 1800 kidshelpline.com.au
Mensline (24/7)1300 78 99 78 mensline.org.au
1800RESPECT (24/7)1800 737 732 1800respect.org.au
13YARN (24/7) 13 92 76 13yarn.org.au
QLife (3pm-midnight) Anonymous, free LGBTI support 1800 184 527 qlife.org.au
Griefline (6am-midnight) 1300 845 745 griefline.org.au
Term Three Kinder visits
We were delighted to take a group of our leaders to visit two of our local kindergartens, Jacks Avenue and Bespoke. Our leaders presented the kinders with some picture story books to add to their libraries and they were able to stay and read to the students as well. It was so lovely to regain this connection with our community and we look forward to future visits, as well as the kinders coming to use our library and playground spaces.
Kindness at Kingswood
We all know that Covid lockdowns have not only had an impact on children’s academic progress, but also their ability to socialise appropriately with others and in their general social and emotional development. We are delighted to have almost completed three full terms with children on site at Kingswood Primary School and we are seeing great progress and catch up on the academic front but acknowledge that there is still work to be done on the social and emotional front. Classroom teachers have been incorporating at least one wellbeing lesson into their classroom programs which has included topics such as emotional regulation, mindfulness, values, who your trusted adults are that you can go to with a concern, catastrophe scales and so on. We also know that these things will take time to become engrained for children, as with any learning there is: the explicit teaching, the modelling, the putting into practice and then reflection and refinement of the skills as needed. Research clearly shows the benefits of teaching kindness in school and at home include – happier children, a greater sense of gratitude, better concentration and academic results, greater sense of belonging and self esteem.
So, what can you do at home?
The 'Parenting For The Brain' website says it all: https://www.parentingforbrain.com/how-to-teach-a-child-to-be-kind/
Teaching kindness begins in the home. A home where kindness is regularly practised and focused on, is going to produce kinder human beings.
There are 6 key points for teaching kindness at home:
1. A HOME ENVIRONMENT FILLED WITH KINDNESS
2. TEACH THEM EMPATHY
3. PRACTICE AND FORM CONSIDERATE HABITS
4. TEACH THE SPIRIT OF KINDNESS
5. READ AND DISCUSS LITERATURE TOGETHER
6. TEACH EMOTIONAL REGULATION
If your child is telling you consistently that others are being unkind to them, support them to unpack what has been occurring in more detail. Is it a big issue (could use the catastrophe scale) or is it something that can be shrugged off, still letting the other student/s know that they didn’t like it. For example “Stop, I don’t like it when you… It makes me feel…” If they feel that it is beyond that initial response then it is time to tell a trusted adult at school. This may be their classroom teacher, a teacher from a previous year, one of our inclusion team, a specialist teacher, Mrs Franklyn, Mr Cox or Mrs Lomas. We are really working with our students to make sure that it is not just their friends that they are telling because as awesome as their friends, are they might not have the skills to help.
If the concerns are then still ongoing, as the parent, it is time for you to intervene and let the classroom teacher know what has been going on in as timely a manner as possible. As a school we can’t do anything if we don’t know that there is a problem. I encourage you to read our bullying prevention policy on our school website for how we go about managing concerns of bullying.
Next term from the 7th to the 13th of November it is World Kindness Week which culminates in World Kindness Day on Sunday the 13th of November. I’d love to hear from any parents or students who have any great ideas for what we could do at school during this week to promote kindness in our community. Obviously, we want to promote kindness every day but this seems like too good an opportunity to pass by turning up the focus.
Leading The Way
Our Year 6 leaders have been visiting the Prep to Year 2 students this term. They delivered an interactive presentation on being kind and left a kindness box in every classroom. If students witness an act of kindness, they can write a note and place it in the box. The Year 6 leaders will collect the boxes each week and highlight some of the acts of kindness on the school news. The Year 6 leaders will also present a kindness badge to one member of each class every week.